The Red Sox have carried their best baseball of the season into Monday night, and the engine behind it has been the starting staff.
Boston just rolled through a four-game sweep of the Yankees, and the rotation set the tone in a big way. Three straight starters took no-hitters into the sixth inning or beyond, a stretch that underlined how locked in the group has been. The club is also sitting on the longest quality start streak since 1988, with Ranger Suarez the pitcher who kicked it off.
Over the last nine games, Boston’s starters have been piling up quality outing after quality outing. Suarez opened the run on June 19 against Seattle with 6.2 scoreless innings and five strikeouts.
The next night, Early followed with six innings, one run and seven strikeouts. Tolle gave up three runs over six innings on June 21, then Bennett blanked Colorado over six innings with nine strikeouts on June 22.
Gray’s outing on June 23 continued the stretch.
Suarez gets the ball again Monday against Washington, and he’s been sharp lately. In his last two starts, he has given up just one run across 12.2 innings while striking out 14. He owns a 1.50 ERA in four June starts.
Across from him will be Miles Mikolas, a 37-year-old two-time MLB All-Star who has had a rough year in his first season out of St. Louis since 2018.
Mikolas is 2-6 with a 5.24 ERA and 44 strikeouts. Still, he’s also shown a volatile edge: in three of his last four starts, he hasn’t allowed a run.
On any given day, he can look untouchable or get hit hard by an opposing lineup.
Suarez may have a short turnaround as well. He is coming off his longest start of the season after throwing 102 pitches five days ago.
Boston has the momentum, but Monday is another real test. A win would do more than just add another mark in the standings - it would help prove that what the Red Sox did against New York was no fluke.
In Other News...
Patrick Sandoval's Return Just Created A Red Sox Pitching Dilemma
Patrick Sandovals rehab assignment is reaching its end, and the Red Sox are running up against a decision they cannot keep kicking down the road. Injured since 2024, Sandoval is close enough to returning that Boston has to start planning for what comes next, even if the club has spent the past few weeks getting steady work from its current starting group.
Patrick Sandovals next step is murkier than the rehab timeline itself. Boston must act soon under MLBs rehab rules, but the fit on the active roster is not obvious with the rotation holding its own, which leaves the club weighing whether to ease him in as a multi-inning arm or get creative with a temporary six-man setup before the All-Star break. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Suddenly Have Fans Reopening A Debate They Know Too Well
A recent 7-3 stretch has put the Red Sox back into a familiar kind of conversation, the sort that starts quietly when a team gets hot enough to make the standings look less hopeless. Bostons playoff odds have climbed from 9.4 percent to 18 percent at FanGraphs, and the club is still only 4.5 games back in the wild card race, which is enough to keep the summer math from feeling entirely out of reach.
The timing helps, too, because the schedule ahead looks manageable with the Nationals, Angels, White Sox and Mets lined up before the All-Star break. If Boston keeps pitching the way it has while squeezing more production out of the lineup, the front office could face a deadline question it has spent plenty of seasons trying to avoid: whether this is merely a nice run or the start of something worth pushing further. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Made A Surprising Roster Sacrifice With Romy Back
Romy Gonzlez finally made his season debut for the Red Sox after coming back from shoulder surgery in March, giving Boston another right-handed infield option as it tries to keep its bench balanced. His return was enough to force a real roster decision, one that came down to how the club wanted to shape its depth while getting Gonzlez back into the mix.
Mickey Gasper was the odd man out, with the Red Sox optioning the catcher despite his solid work in limited action. Interim manager Chad Tracy said the move was about avoiding three catchers and keeping the bench flexible, a reminder that even a useful performer can be squeezed out when a team is trying to make every roster spot count. [Read more 🡒]